A   NEW   DIMENSION   AT   THE   MOLECULAR   LEVEL ...

Dr. Andrews and the Molecular Biology Team

Telomere Length Therapy

Telomerase works by filling in the gap left by DNA replication in an offspring cell. Returning to the illustration of the bricklayer that can't lay the last brick on the wall, telomerase is like the service contractor that arrives from the outside with a truckload of bricks. Without the telomerase enzyme, the bricklayer just can't keep up.

So what about us ? Can we insert the telomerase gene into our cells, thus creating an infinite source of replication ability ?

Inserting the gene directly into our DNA, through the use of viral vectors, is not a viable option. The main problem with this approach is that inserting genes into cells often causes cancer. Fortunately, the telomerase gene already exists in all our cells. That’s because the DNA in every one of our cells is identical: a skin cell, muscle cell, and liver cell all contain exactly the same genetic information. Thus, if the cells that create our sperm and egg cells contain the code for telomerase, every other cell must contain that code as well.

The plan of action involves turning on the telomerase gene with newly discovered compounds.

One such compound is TA-65, a nutraceutical discovered by Geron and licensed to TA-Sciences. These compounds have only been very recently discovered and many are untested, somewhat toxic to cell cultures, and probably unsafe for human consumption(with the notable exception of TA-65). Sierra Sciences is researching its own "telomerase activators" using high throughput robotic screening technology. We are able to simultaneously evaluate hundreds of candidate drugs with side-by-side comparisons. One in particular found thus far is code named "C0057684".

The Cancer Question

The ability to divide forever and never age describes our ancestal germ line, but it also describes a much less pleasant type of cell line: Cancer.

A cancer begins when something goes wrong in a cell, causing it to lose control over its growth. It begins to divide repeatedly, ignoring chemical signals that tell it to stop. However, the telomeres continue to shorten in these cells, and eventually, the cells reach a stage where they can no longer divide, at which point they enter a “crisis mode.”
In the vast majority of cases, when this crisis is reached, the cells will enter senescence and stop dividing. However, very occasionally, they will find ways to re-lengthen their telomeres. When this happens, a cancer begins to divide not only uncontrollably but indefinitely, and this is when cancer becomes truly dangerous. So, anti-aging scientists must be out of their minds to want to turn the telomerase gene on, right ?

No! Although telomerase is necessary for cancers to extend their lifespan, telomerase does not cause cancer. This has been repeatedly demonstrated: at least seven assays for cancer have been performed on telomerase-positive human cells: the soft agar assay, the contact inhibition assay, the mouse xenograft assay, the karyotype assay, the serum inhibition assay, the gene expression assay, and the checkpoint analysis assay. All reported negative results.